SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article
Front. Educ.
Sec. Language, Culture and Diversity
Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1604421
This article is part of the Research TopicSustainable migration: Educational and socio-economical challengesView all articles
Unaccompanied Foreign Minors and Education: A Bibliometric Analysis of the International Academic Literature
Provisionally accepted
Jennifer Serrano-García1,2*
Fátima Zahra Rakdani-Arif Billah2
Jorge Expósito-López2
Eva María Olmedo-Moreno2- 1University of Granada, Granada, Spain
- 2Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain
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The migration of unaccompanied foreign minors presents a significant global educational and social challenge. This study aims to analyse the international scientific production on UFM in the educational field, identifying key trends, influential authors, and institutional contributions. Methods: A bibliometric analysis was conducted using data from the Web of Science and Scopus databases, applying rigorous inclusion and exclusion criteria to ensure the relevance of selected studies.The findings reveal that research on UFM in education is limited, with publications concentrated in a few high-impact journals and led by a small group of prolific authors. The results align with Bradford's and Lotka's laws, demonstrating an uneven distribution of research outputs and the dominance of a few institutions, particularly the University of Granada. Thematic analysis highlights a focus on academic self-efficacy, employability skills, social inclusion, and digital competencies. Conclusion: However, gaps remain in understanding teachers' perceptions of UFM and the impact of educational policies on their integration. Addressing these gaps is essential to fostering inclusive education and informing policy development. Future research should prioritise teacher training programmes to challenge stereotypes and implement strategies that enhance digital inclusion and social integration for this vulnerable population.
Keywords: bibliometric analysis, Unaccompanied foreign minors, UFM, Education, Scientific production
Received: 01 Apr 2025; Accepted: 19 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Serrano-García, Rakdani-Arif Billah, Expósito-López and Olmedo-Moreno. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jennifer Serrano-García, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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